Event kicks off the Relay for Life season
SUPERIOR – The Relay for Life season kicked off two weeks ago as an event to raise awareness about the cause and some important changes to the Mineral County relay was held in Superior.
The Relay Kick Off featured bingo, entertainment and refreshments and also served to inform the public about how the event will be different this year. The event also served to increase the number of teams that plan on participating. Mineral County Relay for Life Publicity Chair Peggy temple said she hoped the changes would increase the amount of people who were able to participate.
“This year the event is just 6 hours making it easier to make the commitment to participate,” Temple said. “I would like to encourage everyone in the County (Alberton, St.Regis and West End included) to come out and support a worthy and necessary program.”
Temple said she was encouraged by the turnout at the Relay Kick Off and hoped that it would encourage more people to take the time to attend the actual relay which she described as a “very necessary (unfortunately) and wonderful cause.”
“The event went very well,” Temple said. “It was well attended and everyone had a great time. We got four new teams out of it so that was very good. We have eight teams signed up now. The kick off event really starts the relay season. It gets the word out to the community. It generates interest.”
According to Temple, the changes to the event were also meant to try and regenerate an awareness in the community of the importance of the Relay for Life. Temple said participation has been down in recent years and organizers are trying to change that.
“We are trying to build more participation,” Temple said. “It’s dropped off a little in the last few years. We want to reenergize everyone. It’s hard for a lot of people to come and spend all night. So with the six hour event, we hope more people will be able to participate. We hope people will be excited and we’ll see more people on the track this year.”
According to the Relay for Life website, more than four million people in over 20 countries raise funds and awareness through Relay For Life events. The overnight community fundraising walks began with one man in 1985. In May of that year, Dr. Gordy Klatt walked and ran around a track in Tacoma, WA for 24 hours raising $27,000 to help the ACS fight one of nation’s biggest health issues. A year later, he was joined by 340 supporters. Since then, Relay For Life events have raised over $4 billion to fight the battle against cancer.
The Mineral County Relay for Life will take place on June 26 from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m.